Latest / Daily Classic Science Fiction Books / 04 - Out of Time's Abyss - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Transcript

04 - Out of Time's Abyss - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Daily Classic Science Fiction Books

0:00
Speaker 1: Chapter four. The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric
0:05
Speaker 1: and the more sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard
0:09
Speaker 1: and tiger predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful markings,
0:14
Speaker 1: and decorative skulls became more and more numerous. Many of
0:18
Speaker 1: the latter were mounted in precious metals and set with
0:22
Speaker 1: colored stones and priceless gems, while thick upon the hides
0:26
Speaker 1: that covered the walls were golden ornaments, similar to those
0:29
Speaker 1: worn by the girl and those which had filled the
0:32
Speaker 1: chests he had examined in the store room of foche Balsage,
0:37
Speaker 1: leading the Englishmen to the conviction that all such were
0:39
Speaker 1: spoils of war or theft, since each peace seemed made
0:43
Speaker 1: for personal adornment, while in so far as he had seen,
0:47
Speaker 1: no Weiru wore ornaments of any sort. And also as
0:51
Speaker 1: they advanced, the more numerous became the weirrous, Moving hither
0:55
Speaker 1: and thither within the temple, many now were the solid
0:58
Speaker 1: red robes, and those that were slashed with blue, a
1:02
Speaker 1: veritable hive of murderers. At last, the party halted in
1:06
Speaker 1: a room in which were many Weirus, who gathered about
1:09
Speaker 1: Bradley questioning his captors and examining him and his apparel.
1:14
Speaker 1: One of the party accompanying the Englishmen spoke to a
1:17
Speaker 1: Weiru that stood beside a door leading from the room.
1:21
Speaker 2: Tell him who speaks for Luata. He said that Fosche
1:24
Speaker 2: Balsage we could not find, but in returning we found
1:28
Speaker 2: this creature within the temple hiding. It must be the
1:32
Speaker 2: same that Fosche Balsage captured in the Stolou country during
1:35
Speaker 2: the last darkness. Doubtless he who speaks for Luata would
1:39
Speaker 2: wish to see and question this strange thing. The creature addressed,
1:44
Speaker 2: turned and slipped through the doorway, closing the door after it,
1:48
Speaker 2: but first depositing its curved blade upon the floor without
1:52
Speaker 2: its post. Was immediately taken by another, and Bradley now
1:55
Speaker 2: saw that at least twenty such guards loitered in the
1:58
Speaker 2: immediate vicinity. The door keeper was gone but for a moment,
2:03
Speaker 2: and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's party was
2:06
Speaker 2: to enter the next chamber, But first each of the
2:09
Speaker 2: weirrous removed his curved weapon and laid it upon the floor.
2:13
Speaker 2: The door was swung open, and the party now reduced
2:16
Speaker 2: to Bradley and five weirus was ushered across the threshold
2:20
Speaker 2: into a large, irregularly shaped room in which a single
2:24
Speaker 2: giant whiru, whose robe was solid blue, sat upon a
2:27
Speaker 2: raised dais. The creature's face was white with the whiteness
2:31
Speaker 2: of a cortz, its dead eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel
2:36
Speaker 2: thin lips tight drawn against yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace.
2:41
Speaker 2: Upon either side of it lay an enormous curved sword,
2:45
Speaker 2: similar to those with which some of the other whirus
2:47
Speaker 2: had been armed, but larger and heavier. Constantly its claw
2:52
Speaker 2: like fingers played with one or the other of these weapons.
2:56
Speaker 2: The walls of the chamber, as well as the floor,
2:58
Speaker 2: were entirely hidden by skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated
3:03
Speaker 2: in all the colorations. Fastened against the hides were many
3:07
Speaker 2: pairs of Wiru wings, mounted so that they resembled long
3:11
Speaker 2: black shields. Upon the ceiling were painted in blue characters,
3:16
Speaker 2: a bewildering series of hieroglyphics, and upon pedestals. Set against
3:20
Speaker 2: the walls or standing out well within the room were
3:23
Speaker 2: many human skulls. As the wirus approached the figure upon
3:28
Speaker 2: the dais, they leaned far forward, raising their wings above
3:32
Speaker 2: their heads and stretching their necks, as though offering them
3:36
Speaker 2: to the sharp swords of the grim and hideous creature.
3:40
Speaker 2: O thou who speakest for the water, exclaimed one of
3:43
Speaker 2: the party, We bring you the strange creature that Fouchepalsage
3:48
Speaker 2: captured and brought thither at thy command. So this, then,
3:53
Speaker 2: was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity. This arch
3:57
Speaker 2: murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on earth.
4:01
Speaker 1: His blue robe announced him the one, and the seeming
4:04
Speaker 1: humility of his minions the other. For a long minute
4:08
Speaker 1: he glared at Bradley. Then he began to question him.
4:12
Speaker 1: From whence he came and howl? The name and description
4:15
Speaker 1: of his native country, and a hundred other queries. Are
4:19
Speaker 1: your cossackleloo, the creature asked. Bradley replied that he was,
4:23
Speaker 1: and that all his kind were, as well as every
4:26
Speaker 1: living thing in his part of the world.
4:29
Speaker 2: Can you tell me the secret?
4:31
Speaker 1: Asked the creature. Bradley hesitated, and then, thinking to gain time,
4:36
Speaker 1: replied in the affirmative. What is it? Demanded the wearu,
4:40
Speaker 1: leaning far forward and exhibiting every evidence of excited interest.
4:46
Speaker 1: Bradley leaned forward and whispered, it is for your ears alone.
4:50
Speaker 1: I will not divulge it to others, and then only
4:53
Speaker 1: on condition that you carry me and the girl I
4:56
Speaker 1: saw in the place of the yellow door near to
4:59
Speaker 1: that of foss Balsage back to her own country. The
5:03
Speaker 1: thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above
5:06
Speaker 1: its head.
5:07
Speaker 2: Who are you to make terms for him who speaks
5:10
Speaker 2: for Lotta, it shrilled, Tell me the secret, or die where.
5:14
Speaker 1: You stand, and if I die now, the secret goes
5:18
Speaker 1: with me. Bradley reminded him. Never again will you get
5:21
Speaker 1: the opportunity to question another of my kind who knows
5:24
Speaker 1: the secret. Anything to gain time to get the rest
5:27
Speaker 1: of the wirus from the room, that he might plan
5:30
Speaker 1: some scheme for escape and put it into effect. The
5:34
Speaker 1: creature turned upon the leader of the party that had
5:37
Speaker 1: brought Bradley.
5:39
Speaker 2: Is the thing with weapons?
5:40
Speaker 1: It asked? No, was the response.
5:44
Speaker 2: Then go, but tell the guard to remain close.
5:47
Speaker 1: By, commanded the high one. The wierus salaamed and withdrew,
5:51
Speaker 1: closing the door behind them. He who speaks for Luata
5:55
Speaker 1: grasped a sword nervously in his right hand. At his
5:58
Speaker 1: left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that
6:02
Speaker 1: he lived in constant dread of being assassinated. The fact
6:06
Speaker 1: that he permitted none with weapons within his presence, and
6:09
Speaker 1: that he always kept two swords at his side pointed
6:12
Speaker 1: to this. Bradley was racking his brain to find some
6:16
Speaker 1: suggestion of a plan whereby he might turn the situation
6:19
Speaker 1: to his own account. His eyes wandered past the weird
6:23
Speaker 1: figure before him. They played about the walls of the apartment,
6:26
Speaker 1: as though hoping to draw inspiration from the dead skulls
6:30
Speaker 1: and the hides and the wings. And then they came
6:33
Speaker 1: back to the face of the weiroo god, now working
6:36
Speaker 1: in anger, quick screamed the thing the secret? Will you
6:42
Speaker 1: give me and the girl our freedom? Insisted Bradley. For
6:46
Speaker 1: an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled yes.
6:50
Speaker 1: At the same instant Bradley saw two hides upon the
6:53
Speaker 1: wall to directly back of the dais, separate, and a
6:56
Speaker 1: face appear in the opening. No change of expression, and
7:00
Speaker 1: upon the Englishman's countenance betrayed that he had seen aught
7:03
Speaker 1: to surprise him, though surprised he was, for the face
7:07
Speaker 1: in the aperture was that of the girl he had
7:09
Speaker 1: but just left hidden beneath the hides in another chamber.
7:13
Speaker 1: A white and shapely arm now pushed past the face
7:16
Speaker 1: into the room, and in the hand, tightly clutched, was
7:19
Speaker 1: the curved blade, smeared with blood, that Bradley had dropped
7:23
Speaker 1: beneath the hides at the moment he had been discovered
7:26
Speaker 1: and drawn from his concealment. Listen, then, said Bradley, in
7:30
Speaker 1: a low voice to the Wearu, you shall know the
7:33
Speaker 1: secret of Cossattledoo as well as do I, but none
7:37
Speaker 1: other may hear it? Lean close, I will whisper it
7:41
Speaker 1: into your ear. He moved forward and stepped upon the dais.
7:45
Speaker 1: The creature raised its sword, ready to strike at the
7:48
Speaker 1: first indication of treachery, and Bradley stooped beneath the blade
7:52
Speaker 1: and put his ear close to the gruesome face. As
7:55
Speaker 1: he did so, he rested his weight upon his hands,
7:58
Speaker 1: one upon either side of the Weiru's body, his right
8:02
Speaker 1: hand upon the hilt of the spare sword lying at
8:04
Speaker 1: the left of him who speaks for Luata, This then
8:09
Speaker 1: is the secret of both life and death, he whispered,
8:12
Speaker 1: and at the same instant he grasped the Weiru by
8:15
Speaker 1: the right wrist, and with his own right hand swung
8:18
Speaker 1: the extra blade in a sudden, vicious blow against the
8:21
Speaker 1: creature's neck before the thing could give even a single
8:24
Speaker 1: cry of alarm. Then, without waiting an instant, Bradley leaped
8:28
Speaker 1: past the dead god and vanished behind the hides that
8:32
Speaker 1: had hidden the girl. Wide eyed and panting, the girl
8:36
Speaker 1: seized his arm. Oh what have you done, she cried?
8:39
Speaker 1: He who speaks for Luata will be avenged by Luata. Now, indeed,
8:43
Speaker 1: must you die? There is no escape, for even though
8:47
Speaker 1: we reached my own country, Luata can find you out, bash,
8:51
Speaker 1: exclaimed Bradley. And then, but you were going to knife
8:54
Speaker 1: him yourself, then I alone should have died, she replied.
8:59
Speaker 1: Brad scratched his head. Neither of us is going to die,
9:03
Speaker 1: he said, at least not at the hands of any god.
9:06
Speaker 1: If we don't get out of here, though, we'll die
9:08
Speaker 1: right enough. Can you find your way back to the
9:11
Speaker 1: room where I first came upon you in the temple?
9:14
Speaker 1: I know the way, replied the girl, but I doubt
9:17
Speaker 1: if we can go back without being seen. I came
9:20
Speaker 1: hither because I only met Girus, who knew that I
9:23
Speaker 1: am supposed now to be in the temple. But you
9:26
Speaker 1: could go elsewhere without being discovered. Bradley's ingenuity had come
9:31
Speaker 1: up against a stone wall. There seemed no possibility of escape.
9:35
Speaker 1: He looked about him. They were in a small room
9:38
Speaker 1: where lay a litter of rubbish, torn bits of cloth,
9:41
Speaker 1: old hives, pieces of fiber rope. In the center of
9:45
Speaker 1: the room was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in
9:48
Speaker 1: its face. Bradley knew it for what it was. Here
9:51
Speaker 1: the arch fiend dragged his victims and cast their bodies
9:55
Speaker 1: into the river of death far below. The floor about
9:58
Speaker 1: the opening in the shaft and the sides of the
10:00
Speaker 1: shaft were clotted thick with a dried, dark brown substance
10:05
Speaker 1: that the Englishman knew had once been blood. The place
10:08
Speaker 1: had the appearance of having been a veritable shambles. An
10:12
Speaker 1: odor of decaying flesh permeated the air. The Englishman crossed
10:17
Speaker 1: to the shaft and peered into the opening. All below
10:20
Speaker 1: was dark as pitch, but at the bottom he knew
10:23
Speaker 1: was the river. Suddenly, an inspiration and a bold scheme
10:27
Speaker 1: leaped to his mind. Turning quickly, he hunted about the
10:31
Speaker 1: room until he found what he sought. A quantity of
10:33
Speaker 1: the rope that lay strewn here and there with rapid fingers,
10:38
Speaker 1: he unsnarled the different lengths, the girl helping him, and
10:41
Speaker 1: then he tied the ends together until he had three
10:44
Speaker 1: ropes about seventy five feet in length. He fastened these
10:48
Speaker 1: together at each end, and without a word, secured one
10:51
Speaker 1: of the ends about the girl's body beneath her arms.
10:55
Speaker 1: Don't be frightened, he said at length, as he led
10:58
Speaker 1: her toward the opening in the shaft. I'm going to
11:00
Speaker 1: lower you to the river, and then I'm coming down
11:03
Speaker 1: after you when you are safe below. Give two quick
11:06
Speaker 1: jerks upon the rope. If there is danger there and
11:09
Speaker 1: you want me to draw you up into the shaft,
11:11
Speaker 1: jerk once. Don't be afraid. It is the only way.
11:15
Speaker 1: I am not afraid, replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley thought,
11:20
Speaker 1: and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her hands,
11:23
Speaker 1: waiting for Bradley to lower her as rapidly as was
11:27
Speaker 1: consistent with safety. The man paid out the rope. When
11:30
Speaker 1: it was about half out. He heard loud cries and
11:33
Speaker 1: wails suddenly arise within the room they had just quitted.
11:37
Speaker 1: The slaying of their god had been discovered by the
11:39
Speaker 1: weirus A search for the slayer would begin at once lord,
11:44
Speaker 1: would the girl never reach the river? At last, just
11:47
Speaker 1: as he was positive that searchers were already entering the
11:50
Speaker 1: room behind him, there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly,
11:55
Speaker 1: Bradley made the rest of the strands fast about the shaft,
11:58
Speaker 1: slipped into the black tube, and began a hurried descent
12:01
Speaker 1: toward the river. An instant later, he stood waist deep
12:05
Speaker 1: in water beside the girl. Impulsively, she reached toward him
12:09
Speaker 1: and grasped his arm. A strange thrill ran through him
12:12
Speaker 1: at the contact, but he only cut the rope from
12:15
Speaker 1: about her body and lifted her to the little shelf
12:18
Speaker 1: at the river's side. How can we leave here, she asked,
12:22
Speaker 1: By the river, he replied, But first I must go
12:25
Speaker 1: back to the blue Place of seven Skulls and get
12:28
Speaker 1: the poor devil I left there. I will have to
12:30
Speaker 1: wait until after dark, though, as I cannot pass through
12:33
Speaker 1: the open stretch of river in the Temple gardens by day.
12:37
Speaker 1: There is another way, said the girl. I have never
12:40
Speaker 1: seen it, but often I have heard them speak of it.
12:43
Speaker 1: A corridor that runs beside the river from one end
12:46
Speaker 1: of the city to the other through the gardens. It
12:49
Speaker 1: is below ground. If we could find an entrance to it,
12:53
Speaker 1: we could leave here at once. It is not safe here,
12:56
Speaker 1: for they will search every inch of the temple and
12:58
Speaker 1: the grounds. Come, said Bradley. We'll have a look for
13:02
Speaker 1: it anyway, And so saying, he approached one of the
13:05
Speaker 1: doors that opened onto the skull paved shelf. They found
13:09
Speaker 1: the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, separated from
13:13
Speaker 1: it only by a single wall. It took them beneath
13:16
Speaker 1: the gardens and the city, always through inky darkness. After
13:20
Speaker 1: they had reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley
13:23
Speaker 1: counted his steps until he had retraced as many as
13:26
Speaker 1: he had taken coming down the stream. But though they
13:29
Speaker 1: had to grope their way along, it was a much
13:31
Speaker 1: more rapid trip than the former. When he thought he
13:34
Speaker 1: was about opposite the point at which he had descended
13:37
Speaker 1: from the Blue Place of seven Skulls, he sought and
13:41
Speaker 1: found a doorway leading out on to the river, and then,
13:44
Speaker 1: still in the blackest darkness, he lured himself into the
13:48
Speaker 1: stream and fell up and down upon the opposite side
13:51
Speaker 1: for the little shelf and the ladder, ten yards from
13:54
Speaker 1: where he had emerged. He found them, while the girl
13:57
Speaker 1: waited upon the opposite side to ascend. The secret panel
14:02
Speaker 1: was the work of but a minute. Here he paused
14:05
Speaker 1: and listened, lest the Weiru might be visiting the prison
14:08
Speaker 1: in search of him or the other inmate. But no
14:11
Speaker 1: sound came from the gloomy interior. Bradley could not but
14:15
Speaker 1: muse upon the joy of the man on the opposite side,
14:19
Speaker 1: when he should drop down to him with food and
14:21
Speaker 1: a new hope for escape. Then he opened the panel
14:24
Speaker 1: and looked into the room. The faint light from the
14:27
Speaker 1: grating above revealed the pile of rags in one corner,
14:31
Speaker 1: but the man lay beneath them. He made no response
14:34
Speaker 1: to Bradley's low greeting. The Englishman lured himself to the
14:38
Speaker 1: floor of the room and approached the rags. Stooping, he
14:42
Speaker 1: lifted a corner of them. Yes, there was the man asleep.
14:46
Speaker 1: Bradley shook him. There was no response. He stooped lore,
14:50
Speaker 1: and in the dim light examined the antack. Then he
14:53
Speaker 1: stood up with a sigh. A rat leaped from beneath
14:56
Speaker 1: the coverings and scurried away. Poor devil, muttered Bradley. He
15:02
Speaker 1: crossed the room to swing himself to the perch, preparatory
15:05
Speaker 1: to quitting the blue place of seven skulls. Forever beneath
15:09
Speaker 1: the perch, he paused. I'll not give them the satisfaction,
15:12
Speaker 1: he growled, let them believe that he escaped. Returning to
15:16
Speaker 1: the pile of rags, he gathered the man into his arms.
15:20
Speaker 1: It was difficult work raising him to the high perch
15:23
Speaker 1: and dragging him through the small opening and thus down
15:26
Speaker 1: the ladder, but presently it was done, and Bradley had
15:30
Speaker 1: lured the body into the river and cast it off.
15:33
Speaker 1: Good Bye, old Top, he whispered. A moment later he
15:37
Speaker 1: had rejoined the girl, and hand in hand, they were
15:40
Speaker 1: following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end of
15:43
Speaker 1: the city. She told him that the weirrou seldom frequented
15:47
Speaker 1: these lower passages, as the air here was too chill
15:50
Speaker 1: for them, But occasionally they came, and as they could
15:54
Speaker 1: see quite as well by night as by day, they
15:57
Speaker 1: would be sure to discover Bradley and the girl. If
16:00
Speaker 1: they come close enough, She said, we can see their
16:03
Speaker 1: eyes shining in the dark. They resemble dull splotches of light.
16:08
Speaker 1: They glow but do not blaze. Like the eyes of
16:11
Speaker 1: the tiger or the lion. The man could not but
16:14
Speaker 1: note the very evident horror with which she mentioned the creatures.
16:18
Speaker 1: To him, they were uncanny, but she had been used
16:21
Speaker 1: to them for a year almost and probably all her life.
16:25
Speaker 1: She had either seen or heard of them constantly. Why
16:28
Speaker 1: do you fear them, so he asked, It seems more
16:31
Speaker 1: than an ordinary fear of the harm they can do you.
16:35
Speaker 1: She tried to explain, but the nearest he could gather
16:38
Speaker 1: was that she looked upon the whiru almost as supernatural beings.
16:43
Speaker 1: There is a legend current among my people that once
16:46
Speaker 1: the whiru were unlike us, only in that they possessed
16:49
Speaker 1: rudimentary wings. They lived in villages in the Gallou country,
16:54
Speaker 1: and while the two peoples often warred, they held no
16:57
Speaker 1: hatred for one another. In those days, each race came
17:01
Speaker 1: up from the beginning, and there was great rivalry as
17:04
Speaker 1: to which was the higher in the scale of evolution.
17:07
Speaker 1: The Wiru developed the first cossatloo, but they were always male,
17:12
Speaker 1: never could they reproduce women. Slowly, they commenced to develop
17:16
Speaker 1: certain attributes of the mind, which they considered placed them
17:19
Speaker 1: upon a still higher level, and which gave them many
17:22
Speaker 1: advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental development.
17:27
Speaker 1: Their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving always
17:31
Speaker 1: in the same manner, never varying. They called this tasad,
17:36
Speaker 1: which means doing everything the right way, or in other words,
17:40
Speaker 1: the Weiru way. If foe or friend, right or wrong,
17:44
Speaker 1: stood in the way of Tasad, then it must be crushed.
17:48
Speaker 1: Soon the galows and the lesser races of men came
17:51
Speaker 1: to hate and fear them. It was then that the
17:53
Speaker 1: wirus decided to carry Tasad into every part of the world.
17:57
Speaker 1: They were very warlike and very numerous, although they had
18:01
Speaker 1: long since adopted the policy of slaying all those among
18:05
Speaker 1: them whose wings did not show advanced development. It took
18:09
Speaker 1: ages for all this to happen. Very slowly came the
18:12
Speaker 1: different changes. But at last the weirus had wings they
18:15
Speaker 1: could use. But by reason of always making war upon
18:19
Speaker 1: their neighbors, they were hated by every creature of cashpack,
18:23
Speaker 1: for no one wanted their tasad, and so they used
18:26
Speaker 1: their wings to fly to this island when the other
18:28
Speaker 1: races turned against them and threatened to kill them all.
18:32
Speaker 1: So cruel had they become, and so bloodthirsty that they
18:35
Speaker 1: no longer had hearts that beat with love or sympathy.
18:39
Speaker 1: But their very cruelty and wickedness kept them from conquering
18:42
Speaker 1: the other races, since they were all so cruel and
18:45
Speaker 1: wicked to one another, so that no weiru trusted another.
18:49
Speaker 1: Always were they slaying those above them, that they might
18:52
Speaker 1: rise in power and possessions, Until at last came the
18:56
Speaker 1: more powerful than the others, With a tacad all his own.
19:00
Speaker 1: He gathered about him a few of the most terrible rearus,
19:04
Speaker 1: and among them they made laws which took from all
19:06
Speaker 1: but these few weeros every weapon they possessed. Now their
19:11
Speaker 1: tasait has reached a high plain. Among them they make
19:14
Speaker 1: many wonderful things that we cannot make. They think great thoughts,
19:18
Speaker 1: no doubt, and still dream of greatness to come. But
19:22
Speaker 1: their thoughts and their acts are regulated by ages of custom.
19:26
Speaker 1: They are all alike, and they are most unhappy. As
19:30
Speaker 1: the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark
19:33
Speaker 1: passageway beside the river. They had advanced a considerable distance
19:38
Speaker 1: when there sounded, faintly from far ahead, the muffled roar
19:41
Speaker 1: of falling water, which increased in volume as they moved
19:45
Speaker 1: forward until at last it filled the corridor with a
19:48
Speaker 1: deafening sound. Then the corridor ended in a blank wall,
19:53
Speaker 1: but in a niche. To the right was a ladder
19:55
Speaker 1: leading aloft, and to the left was a door opening
19:58
Speaker 1: on to the river. Bradley he tried the ladder first,
20:01
Speaker 1: and as he opened it felt a heavy spray against
20:04
Speaker 1: his face. The little shelf outside the doorway was wet
20:07
Speaker 1: and slippery, the roaring of the water tremendous. There could
20:11
Speaker 1: be but one explanation. They had reached the waterfall in
20:15
Speaker 1: the river, and if the corridor actually terminated here, their
20:18
Speaker 1: escape was effectually cut off. Since it was quite evidently
20:22
Speaker 1: impossible to follow the bed of the river and ascend
20:25
Speaker 1: the falls. As the ladder was the only alternative, the
20:30
Speaker 1: two turned toward it, and the man first began the ascent,
20:33
Speaker 1: which was through a well similar to that which had
20:36
Speaker 1: led him to the upper floors of the temple. As
20:38
Speaker 1: he climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the side of
20:41
Speaker 1: the shaft, but he discovered none below fifty feet. The
20:45
Speaker 1: first he came to was Ajar, letting a faint light
20:49
Speaker 1: into the well. As he paused, the girl climbed to
20:52
Speaker 1: his side, and together they looked through the crack into
20:55
Speaker 1: a low sealed chamber, in which were several galoo women
20:59
Speaker 1: and an equal number of hideous little replicas of the
21:02
Speaker 1: full grown weirus, with which Bradley was not quite familiar.
21:07
Speaker 1: He could feel the body of the girl pressed close
21:09
Speaker 1: to his tremble as her eyes rested upon the inmates
21:13
Speaker 1: of the room, and involuntarily his arm encircled her shoulders,
21:18
Speaker 1: as though to protect her from some danger which he
21:20
Speaker 1: sensed without recognizing. Poor things, she whispered, this is their
21:26
Speaker 1: horrible fate, to be imprisoned here beneath the surface of
21:30
Speaker 1: the city, with their hideous offspring, whom they hate as
21:34
Speaker 1: they hate their fathers. A weiru keeps his children thus
21:38
Speaker 1: hidden until they are full grown, lest they be murdered
21:41
Speaker 1: by their fellows. The lower rooms of the city are
21:44
Speaker 1: filled with many such as these. Several feet above was
21:48
Speaker 1: a second door, beyond which they found a small room
21:51
Speaker 1: stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window in
21:56
Speaker 1: one wall opened above an alley, and through it they
21:59
Speaker 1: could see that they were just below the roof of
22:01
Speaker 1: the building. Darkness was coming, and at Bradley's suggestion, they
22:05
Speaker 1: decided to remain hidden here until after dark, and then
22:09
Speaker 1: to ascend to the roof and reconnoiter. Shortly after they
22:13
Speaker 1: had settled themselves, they heard something descending the ladder from above.
22:18
Speaker 1: They hoped that it would continue on down the well,
22:21
Speaker 1: and fairly held their breath as the sound approached the
22:24
Speaker 1: door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as they heard
22:28
Speaker 1: the door open, and from between cracks in the vessels
22:31
Speaker 1: behind which they hid, saw a yellow slashed whiru enter
22:35
Speaker 1: the room. Each recognized him immediately, the girl indicating the
22:40
Speaker 1: fact of her own recognition by a sudden pressure of
22:43
Speaker 1: her fingers on Bradley's arm. It was the Weiru of
22:46
Speaker 1: the yellow slashing, whose abode was the place of the
22:49
Speaker 1: yellow door in which Bradley had first seen the girl.
22:53
Speaker 1: The creature carried a wooden bowl, which it filled with
22:56
Speaker 1: dried food from several of the vessels, then turned and
23:00
Speaker 1: quit the room. Bradley could see through the partially opened
23:04
Speaker 1: doorway that it descended the ladder. The girl told him
23:07
Speaker 1: that it was taking the food to the women and
23:10
Speaker 1: the young below, and that while it might return immediately,
23:13
Speaker 1: the chances were that it would remain for some time.
23:17
Speaker 1: We are just below the place of the yellow door.
23:19
Speaker 1: She said. It is far from the edge of the city,
23:23
Speaker 1: so far that we may not hope to escape if
23:25
Speaker 1: we ascend to the roofs here. I think, replied the man,
23:30
Speaker 1: that of all the places in u Oh, this will
23:33
Speaker 1: be the easiest to escape from. Anyway. I want to
23:36
Speaker 1: return to the place of the yellow door and get
23:38
Speaker 1: my pistol if it is there. It is still there,
23:42
Speaker 1: replied the girl. I saw it placed in a chest
23:45
Speaker 1: where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners
23:48
Speaker 1: and victims, good, explained Bradley. Now come quickly, and the
23:53
Speaker 1: two crossed the room to the well and descended the
23:56
Speaker 1: ladder a short distance to its top, where they found
23:59
Speaker 1: another door that opened into a vacant room, the same
24:03
Speaker 1: in which Bradley had first met the girl. To find
24:06
Speaker 1: the pistol was a matter of but a moment's search
24:08
Speaker 1: on the part of Bradley's companion, and then at the
24:11
Speaker 1: englishman's signal, she followed him to the yellow door. It
24:16
Speaker 1: was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow
24:19
Speaker 1: passage between two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered
24:23
Speaker 1: to the doorway of the store room, where lay the
24:26
Speaker 1: body of foche balsage. In the distance towards the temple,
24:30
Speaker 1: they could hear sounds as of a great gathering of weirus,
24:34
Speaker 1: the peculiar uncanny wailing rising above the dismal flapping of
24:39
Speaker 1: countless wings. They have heard of the killing of him
24:43
Speaker 1: who speaks for Luata, whispered the girl. Soon they will
24:46
Speaker 1: spread in all directions, searching for us. And will they
24:51
Speaker 1: find us as surely as Luire gives light by day,
24:54
Speaker 1: she replied. And when they find us, they will tear
24:57
Speaker 1: us to pieces. For only the Weiru's may murder, only
25:01
Speaker 1: they may practice tasad, But they will not kill you,
25:05
Speaker 1: said Bradley. You did not slay him. It will make
25:08
Speaker 1: no difference, she insisted. If they find us together, they
25:12
Speaker 1: will slay us both. Then they won't find us together,
25:16
Speaker 1: announced Bradley decisively. You stay right here. You won't be
25:20
Speaker 1: any worse off than before I came. And I'll get
25:23
Speaker 1: as far as I can and account for as many
25:25
Speaker 1: of the beggars as possible before they get me. Good Bye.
25:29
Speaker 1: You're a mighty decent little girl. I wish that I
25:32
Speaker 1: might have helped you. No, she cried, do not leave me.
25:37
Speaker 1: I would rather die. I had hoped and hoped to
25:40
Speaker 1: find some way to return to my own country. I
25:43
Speaker 1: wanted to go back to Antac, who must be very
25:46
Speaker 1: lonely without me. But I know that it never can be.
25:50
Speaker 1: It is difficult to kill hope, though mine is nearly dead.
25:55
Speaker 1: Do not leave me, Antac. Bradley repeated, you loved a
25:59
Speaker 1: man called Antac, Yes, replied the girl. An Tak was
26:04
Speaker 1: away hunting when the Whiru caught me. How he must
26:07
Speaker 1: have grieved for me. He also was Cosataloup, twelve moons
26:11
Speaker 1: older than I, and all our lives we have been together.
26:16
Speaker 1: Bradley remained silent, so she loved Antac. He hadn't the
26:20
Speaker 1: heart to tell her that an Tak had died or how.
26:25
Speaker 1: At the door of foshe Balsage's store room, they halted
26:28
Speaker 1: to listen. No sound came from within, and gently Bradley
26:32
Speaker 1: pushed open the door. All was inky darkness as they entered,
26:37
Speaker 1: but presently their eyes became accustomed to the gloom that
26:40
Speaker 1: was partially relieved by the soft starlight. Without the Englishman
26:45
Speaker 1: searched and found those things for which he had come.
26:48
Speaker 1: Two robes, two pairs of dead wings, and several lengths
26:52
Speaker 1: of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he adjusted
26:55
Speaker 1: to the girl's shoulders by means of the rope. Then
26:59
Speaker 1: he draped the robe of her, carrying the cowl over
27:02
Speaker 1: her head. He heard her gasp of astonishment when she
27:05
Speaker 1: realized the ingenuity and boldness of his plan. Then he
27:09
Speaker 1: directed her to adjust the other pair of wings and
27:12
Speaker 1: the robe upon him. Working with strong, deft fingers. She
27:16
Speaker 1: soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out
27:19
Speaker 1: upon the roof to all intent and purpose, genuine weirus.
27:24
Speaker 1: Beside his pistol, Bradley carried the sword of the slain
27:27
Speaker 1: Wiru prophet, while the girl was armed with the small
27:31
Speaker 1: blade of the red Wairu. Side by side, they walked
27:35
Speaker 1: slowly across the roof toward the north edge of the city.
27:39
Speaker 1: Weirus flapped above them, and several times they passed others
27:42
Speaker 1: walking or sitting upon the roofs from the temple still rose,
27:46
Speaker 1: the sounds of commotion, now pierced by occasional shrill screams.
27:52
Speaker 1: The murderers are abroad, whispered the girl. Thus will another
27:55
Speaker 1: become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us,
27:59
Speaker 1: since it keeps them too busy to give the time
28:01
Speaker 1: for searching for us. They think that we cannot escape
28:04
Speaker 1: the city, and they know that we cannot leave the island,
28:08
Speaker 1: and so do I. Bradley shook his head. If there
28:11
Speaker 1: is any way we will find it, he said. There
28:15
Speaker 1: is no way, replied the girl. Bradley made no response,
28:19
Speaker 1: and in silence they continued until the outer edge of
28:23
Speaker 1: roofs was visible before them. We are almost there, he whispered.
28:28
Speaker 1: The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He
28:31
Speaker 1: could feel hers trembling as he returned the pressure. Nor
28:34
Speaker 1: did he relinquish her hand, and thus they came to
28:37
Speaker 1: the edge of the last roof. Here they halted and
28:40
Speaker 1: looked about them. To be seen attempting to descend to
28:44
Speaker 1: the ground below would be to betray the fact that
28:46
Speaker 1: they were not weirus. Bradley wished that their wings were
28:50
Speaker 1: attached to their bodies by sinew and muscle, rather than
28:53
Speaker 1: by ropes of fiber. A weiru was flapping far overhead.
28:58
Speaker 1: Two more stood near a door a few yards distant.
29:01
Speaker 1: Standing between these and one of the outer pedestals that
29:04
Speaker 1: supported one of the numerous skulls, Bradley made one end
29:08
Speaker 1: of a piece of rope fast about the pedestal and
29:11
Speaker 1: dropped the other end to the ground outside the city.
29:14
Speaker 1: Then they waited. It was an hour before the coast
29:18
Speaker 1: was entirely clear, and then a moment came when no
29:22
Speaker 1: wearu was in sight. Now whispered Bradley, and the girl
29:26
Speaker 1: grasped the rope and slid over the edge of the
29:28
Speaker 1: roof into the darkness below. A moment later, Bradley felt
29:32
Speaker 1: two quick pulls upon the rope and immediately followed to
29:36
Speaker 1: the girl's side. Across a narrow clearing, they made their
29:40
Speaker 1: way and into a wood beyond. All night they walked,
29:43
Speaker 1: following the river upward toward its source, and at dawn
29:47
Speaker 1: they took shelter in a thicket beside the stream. At
29:50
Speaker 1: no time did they hear the cry of a carnivore,
29:53
Speaker 1: and though many startled animals fled as they approached, they
29:57
Speaker 1: were not once menaced by a wild beast. When Bradley
30:00
Speaker 1: expressed surprise at the absence of the fiercest beasts that
30:04
Speaker 1: are so numerous upon the mainland of Coprona, the girl
30:07
Speaker 1: explained the reason that is contained in one of their
30:10
Speaker 1: ancient legends. When the rear us first developed wings upon
30:15
Speaker 1: which they could fly. They found this island devoid of
30:18
Speaker 1: any life other than a few reptiles that live either
30:22
Speaker 1: upon land or in the water, and these only close
30:24
Speaker 1: to the coast. Requiring meat for food, the wearerus carried
30:29
Speaker 1: to the island such animals as they wished for that purpose.
30:32
Speaker 1: They still occasionally bring them, and this, with the natural increase,
30:36
Speaker 1: keeps them provided with flesh, as it will us, suggested Bradley.
30:42
Speaker 1: The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the
30:45
Speaker 1: dried food that Bradley had brought with him from the
30:48
Speaker 1: temple's store room, and the next night they set out
30:51
Speaker 1: again upon the river, continuing steadily on until almost dawn,
30:56
Speaker 1: when they came to Low Hills, where the river wound
30:59
Speaker 1: through a gorge. It was little more than rivulet now,
31:02
Speaker 1: the water clear and cold, and filled with fish similar
31:06
Speaker 1: to brook trout, though much larger. Not Wishing to leave
31:10
Speaker 1: the stream, the two waded along its bed to a
31:13
Speaker 1: spot where the gorge widened between perpendicular bluffs to a
31:17
Speaker 1: wooded acre of level land. Here they stopped, for here
31:21
Speaker 1: also the stream ended. They had reached its source. Many
31:25
Speaker 1: cold springs bubbling up from the center of a little
31:28
Speaker 1: natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear and
31:32
Speaker 1: beautiful pool, overshadowed by trees upon one side and bounded
31:37
Speaker 1: by a little clearing upon the other. With the coming
31:41
Speaker 1: of the sun, they saw they had stumbled upon a
31:44
Speaker 1: place where they might remain hidden from the weirus for
31:47
Speaker 1: a long time, and also one that they could defend
31:51
Speaker 1: against these winged creatures. Since the trees would shield them
31:55
Speaker 1: from an attack from above and also hamper the movements
31:59
Speaker 1: of the creatures, they attempt to follow them into the wood.
32:03
Speaker 1: For three days they rested here before trying to explore
32:06
Speaker 1: the neighboring country. On the fourth Bradley stated that he
32:10
Speaker 1: was going to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond.
32:14
Speaker 1: He told the girl that she should remain in hiding,
32:17
Speaker 1: but she refused to be left, saying that whatever fate
32:20
Speaker 1: was to be his, she intended to share it, so
32:24
Speaker 1: that he was at last forced to permit her to
32:26
Speaker 1: come with him through woods. At the summit of the bluff,
32:29
Speaker 1: they made their way toward the north, and had gone
32:32
Speaker 1: but a short distance when the wood ended, and before
32:35
Speaker 1: them they saw the waters of the inland Sea, and
32:38
Speaker 1: dimly in the distance the coveted shore the beach lay
32:42
Speaker 1: some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill
32:45
Speaker 1: on which they stood, Nor was there a tree nor
32:48
Speaker 1: any other form of shelter between them and the water,
32:51
Speaker 1: as far up and down the coast as they could see.
32:55
Speaker 1: Among other plans, Bradley had thought of constructing a covered
32:59
Speaker 1: raft upon which they might drift to the mainland. But
33:03
Speaker 1: as such a contrivance would necessarily be of considerable weight,
33:06
Speaker 1: it must be built in the water of the sea,
33:09
Speaker 1: since they could not hope to move it even a
33:12
Speaker 1: short distance overland. If this wood was only at the
33:15
Speaker 1: edge of the water, he sighed. But it is not,
33:19
Speaker 1: the girl reminded him. And then let us make the
33:22
Speaker 1: best of it. We have escaped from death for a time.
33:25
Speaker 1: At least we have food and good water, and peace
33:29
Speaker 1: and each other. What more could we have upon the mainland.
33:33
Speaker 1: But I thought you wanted to get back to your
33:34
Speaker 1: own country, he exclaimed. She cast her eyes upon the
33:38
Speaker 1: ground and half turned away. I do, she said, Yet
33:43
Speaker 1: I am happy here. I could be little happier there.
33:48
Speaker 1: Bradley stood in silent thought. We have food and good water,
33:52
Speaker 1: and peace and each other, he repeated to himself. He
33:56
Speaker 1: turned then and looked at the girl and it was
33:58
Speaker 1: as though in the day that they had been together,
34:01
Speaker 1: this was the first time that he had really seen her.
34:05
Speaker 1: The circumstances that had thrown them together, the dangers through
34:09
Speaker 1: which they had passed, all the weird and horrible surroundings
34:13
Speaker 1: that had formed the background of his knowledge of her,
34:17
Speaker 1: had had their effect. She had been but the companion
34:20
Speaker 1: of an adventure. Her self, reliance, her endurance, her loyalty
34:25
Speaker 1: had been only what one man might take spect of another.
34:29
Speaker 1: And he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude
34:32
Speaker 1: toward her that he might have assumed toward a man.
34:36
Speaker 1: Yet there had been a difference. He recalled now the
34:39
Speaker 1: strange sensation of elation that had thrilled him upon the
34:43
Speaker 1: occasions when the girl had pressed his hand in hers,
34:47
Speaker 1: and the depression that had followed her announcement of her
34:50
Speaker 1: love for Antac. He took a step toward her. A
34:54
Speaker 1: fierce yearning to seize her and crush her in his
34:57
Speaker 1: arms swept over him, and then their flash upon the
35:00
Speaker 1: screen of recollection, the picture of a stately hall set
35:04
Speaker 1: amidst broad gardens and ancient trees, and of a proud
35:08
Speaker 1: old man with beetling brows an old man who held
35:11
Speaker 1: his head very high, and Bradley shook his head and
35:15
Speaker 1: turned away again. They went back then to their little acre,
35:20
Speaker 1: and the days came and went, And the man fashioned
35:23
Speaker 1: spear and bow and arrows, and hunted with them that
35:27
Speaker 1: they might have meat. And he made hooks of fish bone,
35:30
Speaker 1: and caught fishes with wondrous flies of his own invention.
35:34
Speaker 1: And the girl gathered fruits and cooked the flesh and
35:37
Speaker 1: the fish, and made beds of branches and soft grasses.
35:41
Speaker 1: She cured the hides of the animals he killed, and
35:45
Speaker 1: made them soft by much pounding. She made sandals for
35:49
Speaker 1: herself and for the man, and fashioned a hide after
35:52
Speaker 1: the manner of those worn by the warriors of her tribe,
35:55
Speaker 1: and made the man wear it, for his own garments
35:58
Speaker 1: were in rags. She was always the same, sweet and
36:03
Speaker 1: kind and helpful, but always there was about her manner
36:07
Speaker 1: and her expression just a trace of wistfulness. And often
36:11
Speaker 1: she sat and looked at the man when he did
36:13
Speaker 1: not know it, her brows puckered in thought, as though
36:17
Speaker 1: she were trying to fathom and to understand him. In
36:22
Speaker 1: the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from
36:25
Speaker 1: the rotted granite of which the hill was composed, making
36:29
Speaker 1: a shelter for them against the reins. He brought wood
36:32
Speaker 1: for their cook fire, which they used only in the
36:35
Speaker 1: middle of the day, a time when there was little
36:38
Speaker 1: likelihood of Wearoos being in the air so far from
36:41
Speaker 1: their city, And then he learned to bank it with
36:44
Speaker 1: earth in such a way that the embers held until
36:47
Speaker 1: the following noon without giving off smoke. Always he was
36:51
Speaker 1: planning on reaching the mainland, and never a day passed
36:55
Speaker 1: that he did not go to the top of the
36:56
Speaker 1: hill and look out across the sea toward the dark,
37:00
Speaker 1: distant line that meant for him comparative freedom and possibly
37:04
Speaker 1: reunion with his comrades. The girl always went with him,
37:08
Speaker 1: standing at his side and watching the stern expression on
37:12
Speaker 1: his face, with just a tinge of sadness on her own.
37:16
Speaker 1: You are not happy, she said once. I should be
37:20
Speaker 1: over there with my men. He replied, I do not
37:23
Speaker 1: know what may have happened to them. I want you
37:26
Speaker 1: to be happy, she said, quite simply. But I should
37:29
Speaker 1: be very lonely if you went away and left me here.
37:33
Speaker 1: He put his hand on her shoulder. I would not
37:36
Speaker 1: do that, little girl, He said gently. If you cannot
37:40
Speaker 1: go with me, I shall not go. If either of
37:43
Speaker 1: us must go alone, it will be you. Her face
37:47
Speaker 1: lighted to a wondrous smile. Then we shall not be separated,
37:51
Speaker 1: she said, for I shall never leave you as long
37:54
Speaker 1: as we both live. He looked down into her face
37:58
Speaker 1: for a moment. And then who is Antack? He asked,
38:03
Speaker 1: my brother? She replied, why? And then, even less than
38:07
Speaker 1: before could he tell her. It was then that he
38:11
Speaker 1: did something he had never done before. He put his
38:14
Speaker 1: arms about her, and, stooping, kissed her forehead. Until you
38:18
Speaker 1: find Antack, he said, I will be your brother. She
38:23
Speaker 1: drew away. I already have a brother, she said, and
38:27
Speaker 1: I do not want another. End of chapter four.